I write cat fiction—that is, my mysteries involve and include some interesting cat characters. And I’ve made up some intriguing stories. But, as they say, fact is stranger than fiction and these news stories prove it.
Have you read about the problem one neighborhood in Waynesboro, Virginia is having? Someone is taking their pet cats, shaving their bellies, and returning them. The cats don’t seem to be injured in the process—there’s no surgical procedures being inflicted upon the cats. They just come home with a clean shave on their bellies. Could it 
be a veterinary student practicing his surgical prep skills??? Do the cats have mats and the person with the razor is sympathetic to the discomfort the animal is experiencing? Maybe there’s an avid spay-neuter advocate who wants to check neighborhood female cats to see if they’ve been spayed. Or is someone collecting fur to make cat-fur items? Remember my post about items made from fur? I used to spin and some of the students in the class I took were spinning cat fur. You can get plenty by just brushing, however. But I found that most cat fur is actually too fine to spin. So that probably isn’t the reason why someone is shaving cats. Any ideas?
Did you hear about the cat—yes, a kitty-cat—who stopped a baseball game? It was a contest between the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. According to the story, the cat, who ran out onto the field and wouldn’t leave, was a bigger attraction that day than the game.
Max and baby Lily
Here’s an interesting and rather heart-warming news story, a woman in Illinois died after a car accident and animal control was called to rescue her thirty-plus cats. They expected to find cats in poor condition, as is usually the case when someone lives with that many cats. What they found, however, were 33 cats all in good health and a journal describing each cat, any special needs, his daily routine, personality, name and so forth. Rescuers said this was one of their easier rescue operations they’d encountered. Here’s the link to the interesting story: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/woman-leaves-more-than-30-cats-recounts-their-lives-in-a-journal/amp/
I have a sticker on my front window noting that I have two cats in case of fire or other emergency. But it hadn’t occurred to me to display a journal about the cats. But then I only have two. This does bring up the question, though, have you provided for your cats should something happen to you?
